Reichel was sent down to rockford for those 15 or so games he missed with the big club. He returned looking like a man on a mission in my estimation. He was skating faster, passing better and even scored a couple on the final stretch of the season. He seemed to have pulled it back together to wrap up this year.
He would have gone back to Rockford sooner, but for the ridiculous levels of injuries both there and in Rockford. I think the whole attempt to move him to center got derailed by all the injuries, and that wound up snowballing and messing with his confidence. That stint with the Hogs did wonders for getting his head back on straight. If it stays that way, the kid is going to be a beast! And, he's still a kid. Still too soon to write him off.
He looked really good last season paired with Athanasiou and I think that injury kind of hurt Reichel as well. When you struggle and get stuck on a line with MacKenzie Entwistle and Reese Johnson, your scoring is going to suffer.
I mean he started to look like he did before he for what ever reason was sent down to the 4th line and given no minutes. It wasn't really surprising his numbers dropped off after that and even less surprising that he started to look a lot better when given more time at the end of the season. Hopefully this season they will work on getting a coach who won't waste his time and can actually allow him to develop.
From the perspective of a Hawks fan who watched every game, even the 8-1 blowouts: - No shot Richardson gets fired this summer. He's had dog water rosters to deal with and even then he's shown he can get them competing. They just need better players to be consistent. If the Hawks finish at the bottom of the NHL again, then Luke will be on the hot seat - Reichel really struggled for a lot of the season then got sent down to Rockford for a bit. Once he was back up he looked like a new player. He'll get an extension soon to keep proving himself - ALEX VLASIC - While Mrazek had absolutely no business being as good as he was, Soderblom was not good at all. Davidson said all G positions will be open for competition so we'll see how that turns out - Bedard was out of control once he got back from injury. He'll be very exciting to watch next season Keep up the good work Shannon!
- I really think Richardson should be fired. I can't blame the overall record on him, but he was terrible when it came to his line up choices as well as allowing players to develop. What really annoyed most about him is he refused to stick up for his team too. -Reichel was actually starting to do well early on, but Richardson out of no where started cutting his minutes, so of course he struggled. Which goes back to point 1 why he should be fired. -Both goalies sucked. Soderblom obviously was the clear worse of them. But Mrazek wasn't all that great either. Not sure where people think he was so good (All I can guess is they compared him to Soderblom), but he was on paper nothing more than a average back up goalie. Sure he had some great games in there, but also had plenty of subpar games. I don't see either being the future for this team.
No chance Bedard doesn't get the Calder. A lot of people jumped on the Faber bandwagon, which is nice, and the kid should have a good career, but Bedard lived up to his billing.
I think a lot of the fans that jumped on the Faber bandwagon were either Wild fans, or fans that just don't like the Hawks or the fact they got Bedard. But I agree, Bedard will win the Calder, in fact I wouldn't be surprised if he not only one it, but got every 1st place vote. Faber was good and I think wins any other season, but he just happened to get the same rookie season as Bedard who has just been on a different level of any rookie. In fact when I go through meaningful stats per game, the only one I found Faber lead in was blocked shots. Outside of that Bedard lead in Goals, Assists, Points, Hits, takeaways, defensive zone giveaways, drawn penalties, penalties taken and more.
There is a 0% chance either Richardson or Davidson is going to get fired. They had some really crippling injuries, and they did the best they could while missing several of their key veterans for dozens of games. You also did not put Gavin Hayes or Nick Lardis on your prospects list. They both have been big goal scorers in the OHL.
It surprises me how much the injury situation gets ignored or downplayed. You know it's bad when you're being forced to claim multiple guys off of waivers in order to fill out your roster. They were decimated in Rockford, too. I'm also surprised that Gavin Hayes keeps getting overlooked when it comes to the Hawks' prospect pool. Yeah, he's had quite the season in the OHL. Also, Colton Dach shown some good potential in the AHL. If only he could stay healthy...
@MisterCaution No, they were not set up to tank. Nobody said they were going to be competitive, but there was ZERO intention for them to be anywhere near as bad as they wound up being. Going into the season, they were expected to be a 70-point team, not one that was set up to purposely lose. They were holding their own, and actually beating current playoffs teams--until the injuries started rolling in, and after Perry got his ass fired.
Davidson is fine. I think anyone that sees the overall plan realizes it's actually going really well, just takes time. He has handed a team with no prospects, no draft picks, no cap space, a bunch of older players and bad contracts and in just a couple years turned it into a team full of prospects, high draft picks, cleared tons of cap space and has nothing I'd call a bad contract outside of maybe Jones, but that wasn't his signing. He has been able to get great return for his trades and most of all got Bedard. Richardson on the other hand I think should be gone. No you can't blame the overall record on him, but he did a terrible job with some of his line up decisions as well as player development (Reichel is a perfect example of that) and he doesn't stand up for his team.
@MisterCaution It's way more than just prospects. It's about being able to build. When he came in he had nothing to build with. Now he has the power to draft, develop and/or buy. Hawks are now set up better than any other team to be successful. It's very similar to who the Kane and Toews dynasty was built. In fact Davidson was given less than what Tallon was. And if they go according to that plan the expectation was for the Hawks to really start building this off season. The goal for this season is to at least be in the running for a spot. Or in other words be a bubble team. They may not make it in, but I do expect them to put up a fight.
Beautiful Jersey. What a surreal season Kane had in Detroit. Some players' careers seemed to be blessed by the gods. so clutch in OT wins. one after another. unreal!
That jersey looks NICE! Love the colours on the feathers Edit: noticed it's actually the same colours pretty much as usual, but the intricacy of the feather design makes it look so different and more fancy.
You also missed Brett Seney, Jaxson Stauber who broke the franchise record for consecutive wins in Rockford from 7 to 14 games straight, Hardman also had a career year for Rockford. Rockford also had good chemistry going with Seney, Guttman, Pitlick on the same line, which could easily be a great 3rd or 4th line in Chicago as all 3 have NHL experience.
Thank you HG. Much needed, & a somewhat, positive outlook for the Charlestown/Chicago Blackhawks. Reichel is a major concern. They've had a exact same issue with Kubalik, Pius Suter & a few other good/top prospects in the very near past. The Hagel trade is going to sting for a very, very long time. He was the absolute, epitome of a Windy City greasy grinder.
Good video as always. As a Hawks fan I would mention that for a stretch of the season they had more cap on LTIR than on the ice too. Doesn't mean they're a playoff team by any stretch, but it's just a lot of guys getting plugged in for roles. Needing Sanford, Beauviller, Pitlick, Megna, etc...
Blackhawks fan, thanks for this video. Watching the end-of-season pressers from the players, Tyler Johnson is all but gone, he wants to play meaningful games again. Most Chicago fans and pundits will tell you Tinordi is a traffic cone. He's a traffic cone with some physicality. Zaitsev was unimpressive. Vlasic played on the top D pair w/Jones and was second in D minutes to Jones. A huge bright spot in a crappy year. Davidson said they will be better next year, they have to be. The question is how much better? He will not sacrifice the future for the present.
Agreed on crevier and some of the prospects. Crevier is 6’8 which is just fucking huge to be on the ice and I actually didn’t hate his game all that bad when he was up with the hawks. Although he’s an rfa he’s only 22 and Richardson has praised that he’s adapted to the speed of nhl well. I believe he comes back on a 2 year deal. He’s definitely more of a project compared to vlasic which is a similar build
Great breakdown Shannon! Always impressed at how knowledgeable you are of teams across the league. I would be surprised to see the Hawks in contention for a WC spot next year, but best case scenario maybe they have a season like the Coyotes this year where they’re in it through the new year before ultimately falling off. Bright future ahead, though!
If teams wanted to clear cap and the players agreed to go, i could see chicago being able to take on a contract like Taveres or dubois, though with dubois history i don't know how well it'd work there.
Wasn't even about keeping his head up honestly, it's about not just skating through the middle and expecting no one to touch you. Young players are conditioned to think they're safe doing that when in reality any of the vets can light them up like that at any time. "Welcome to the NHL, kid" and all that
It sounds like Davidson wants to use some money this off-season to get better and spend some money to do so. The Hawks had massive offense problems. Not being able to control the puck in the offensive zone hurt the defense as much as it shows how bad the offense was. AS a result I think the Hawks will try to get 2 more top 6 wings. A better offensive weapon to play with Bedard and someone skilled enough that Nazar and any other of the kids playing with them won't fail because they are left on an island like Bedard kind of was for most of the year. Not necessarily superstars, but 6-7 mill for solid options. Get another 1-2 bottom 6 forwards. People don't realize Bedard was on the ice for nearly 20 min/night. Less ice time with more effective ice time by being able to trust your 3rd and 4th lines. These shouldn't cost an arm and a leg, but are important additions. I could see them trading Seth Jones. Retain some of his money and get another few draft picks/players. He is over priced for what he is on this team and i feel the Hawks could get a better fit in free agency for close to the same cost. He had 31 points this year, and 37 points the year before. He has a cap hit of 9.5 million over the next 5 seasons. WTF? That contract might be too much to trade away.
Wishing we would sign Kane for 2 years medium money and stamkos or marchessult plus 1 good dman maybe Chris tanev or brett pesce if they are available still. We have the money and if you sign the new players to 2 or 3 year contracts you can reevaluate when you need to renew the younger players new contracts like bedard nazar ect.. tell the before mentioned vets you bring in they get paid the 3 years then its time for the young people to get paid. Getting into the playoffs is when the real experience is gained on the road to becoming a contender/ champ.. after next year we need to be in the playoffs
@@kyledelcotto4550 I never thought i would miss the 3-4 min a night were the offense just passed the puck around in the offensive zone without a shot. Yes we need to take more shots and make them, but we need to control the puck more as well. Controlling the puck helps the D. As it stands at least 8 mill in dead contracts the Hawks retained coming off the books for next season. That was money on the Cap but not on the ice. plus the 4 million cap increase should get 2 players and keep a lot of that cap space for the future. On the Draft... Hawks still need to take the best available. That looks to be a D as after Celebrini the next 3-4 should be D men. Hawks are deep at solid D prospects. So I am not sure what options the Hawks will consider. It wouldn't surprise me that with a couple solid upgrades and 2nd years kids growth, the Hawks earn 80+ points next season.
What are the compares for the next few years, who do the hawks have? Kane ( Bedard ) Ladd ( Kurashev ) Brouwer ( Dickinson ) Canpbell ( Jones ) Hjarlmasson ( Vlasic ) Seabrook ( Korchinski ? ) Crawford ( Mrazek ? ) Missing.....A Toews, a Hossa, a Sharp, a Keith, a Versteeg, a Shaw, a Bolland, a Rozival. That's a lot of holes, but a good free agent signing this summer and two two good ones in 25 will be a big help. They should be able to have a few hits from previous drafts and the upcoming ones to fill out the roster.
They have good, young talent to go w/ Bedard and they have a capable starter in Mrazek and perhaps Stauber will challenge Soderblom for back-up duty. But Jones’ ridiculous deal will hurt Chicago’s attempts to add important pieces going forward (someone like Foligno but a bit younger, etc.) and make no mistake Chicago was still quite bad even w/ Bedard (minus-44 along with Kurashev) so the Blackhawks will go through at least two more painful years of seeing how their picks and already-there talent looks THEN they can possibly start thinking of building toward better days.
Getting Hall back and a couple free agents + subtracting guys like Tinordi, Raddysh, Megna, and Zaitsev should have them winning more games right off the bat next year. I think that’s the next step in “building” phase is just not putting guys out there that you’d swear are there to make the team lose they’re so bad.
We should have had a better record. Tons on injuries , losing Hall in the beginning of the year and Perry booted off the team. AA hurt most of the year. Defense is getting better. Vlasic is a stud. Lots of $ available and drafting top 4. Next year should be better
Realistically i think after next year we make the playoffs. This and next offseason were adding 3 major pieces to go along with players developing even further and were going to be surprised. Then after that we were going to have to become contenders in those playoffs. Takes guts..
@@kyleraymer5581 tell me your a casual without telling me your a casual. The record means nothing when he was given horrible rosters since starting. Luke Richardson would absolutely get hired as a HC somewhere else if we fired him……. The HC isn’t the issue on this team.
@@Ebbs-ez2fs I never said record matters. The record I can forgive him for. But there is more to coaching than that. I never expected him to have a great record, but some of his line decisions just made no sense. He did nothing to stand up for the team when they had missed calls, bad calls or even dirty hits. In fact when Bedard took a hit to the head and the rest of the team was livid, he just looked the other way and refused to defend any of them. He also sucks at developing players, look at how he handled the Reichel situation. Right when he started to get going, just had a goal and 2 points in two games as well as something like 4 in his last 7, what does he do....he puts him on the 4th line and gives him 11 minutes a game. You realize Luke is a huge reason it has taken Reichel so long to develop. So yes the record can be forgiven, his inability to coach, mentor and motivate is why he should be fired. Even a "casual fans" can see that.
The Blackhawks are on a trajectory similar to the teams that drafted Toews and Kane back to back, and four years later won it all. I would venture to say that Chicago wins a Stanley Cup before the Leafs do. Their window of opportunity is closing fast, the core four there are all either 26 or 27, but have nothing to show for it other than great regular season stats. Kane and Toews already had three Cups by the time they were 27.
@MisterCaution They do have a lot of holes to fill. But 3 cups is not lightning in a bottle, there were also 2 conference finals appearances. That's a lot of sustained success, not what anyone would call it what you did. And a team has to start somewhere. Lots of draft capital and lots of cap room and a really young star should lead to a very good team.
I think Bedard is so good he will force the rebuild to work, hes not just any first round pick hes a generational talent he will will them into success
I'd like to see the Hawks draft Cole Eiserman! With him and Bedard on the same line, wow! Other than that, you're pretty spot on Hockey Guy. (Cringing) I'd like them to dump Foligno, Donoto, the Johnson's and move on from Seth Jones.
Most of our UFAs this offseason will be gone, mercifully. A lot of them were plugs we picked up when we had half our forwards injured or removed from the team. Blackwell will probably be back as he's not terrible. Hardman will probably be kept around for Rockford. TyJo is gone and I'm so glad. Dude sucked all season long when he needed to step up as a vet. Soderblom is done in Chicago. He was absolutely awful after what was supposed to be a break-out year for him. I don't see Commesso or Stauber coming up from Rockford yet. They want them more seasoned. Gajan isn't, either; he's way down the goalie depth chart. Hawks will pick up a veteran UFA backup tendie for sure. Reichel will get a last chance deal. If he doesn't improve, he'll more likely than not be packaged at the deadline next year. Don't expect the Hawks to blow up the UFA market this season unless the Leafs go crazy and swap Marner for Jones or they convince Marchessault to come here. They'll grab some pieces, but their intent is to go all-in next year when the big names like Draisaitl and Rantanen hit the market.
Which Hawks prospects (not including Bedard) have a legitimate chance to become stars? Maybe Nazar and Korchinsky? Plus their top pick this year. One thing this gentleman didn’t mention is that the Hawks have a boatload of extra picks this year and next, including two extra first rounders.
Realistically, I'm hoping the Hawks are seriously competitive and fun to watch in the 2025-26 season, shooting for the playoffs. But my heart is hoping for a team we can have fun cheering for as soon as next season.
Reichel is the biggest head-scratcher. There are times out there when he shows skill that looks like he can compete at the NHL level. But because he's slight of size, he becomes very easy to knock off the puck and looks like a child out there. Where this teams needs to improve is on the blue line. and they appear to have some big, solid, young defensemen who are ready to make an impact.
Merz is a great goalie! So glad we signed him. I think next year will be a bit better. We went from the top of ladder to the bottom. Step by step. I think the hawks have a bright future. Maybe 5 years. Which seems like alot but. It could happen
I want to like the Hawks but them jumping 5 spots to get Kane and then jumping to get Bedard just annoys me. They lucked into a dynasty and now lucked into a superstar player.
Can someone tell me how the NHL favors the Hawks when the club has had TWO number one overall picks in the last SIXTY years? I know the content creator doesn't believe that, but damn!
If they do, their rebuild can hop forward like 2 or 3 years. With 2 young outstanding talents like that, why wouldn’t a player like Stamkos per se want to come to Chicago? 😮💨 As a Nucks fan and a Bedard fan i’m eagerly watching Chicago
I went to a few games in Rockford this year and Louis Crevier will probably never sniff an NHL roster again. He didnt get much playing time with the hawks when they had him up this year and he looks lost most of the time in the AHL. He's massive but that's about all he's got going for himself.
Draft Eiserman or demidov at 2 Drop both Johnson’s and Raddysh Do anything to trade jones away Give the kids a chance to play and look at some decent FA’s
- Reichel I think was really good when he was allowed to play. Why Richardson cut his minutes when he was starting to play his best hockey is a mystery on it's own, but no player is going to develop and be good when they are getting 11 minutes a night. -Mrazek was far from fantastic. Compared to his counterpart maybe, but far from fantastic at the NHL level. He had some great games in there for sure, but also many subpar games. And overall finished with the 39th best GSAA/60, leaving him at around an average to slightly above average back up goalie. He will be a good mentor, but Hawks still need to seek out a future true starter. Mrazek isn't it both because of age and skill level. -Soderblom never should have been in the NHL to start with. He struggled in the AHL and never earned a spot to go up to the NHL. Then when given a change he was one of if not the worst goalie in the NHL. He didn't deserve to be in the AHL much less the NHL. Why in the world would he deserve another chance in the NHL next year?
It is a joke. He put out his Sharks video and shortly after their coach was fired. He’s saying that he jinxed their coach and now he might jinx Richardson.
I knew it’d be rough. The Blackhawks had a hard time scoring with Kane and Toews, Debrincat and Hagel in recent years. This team needs to get out of the basement, fast
Shannon hits it right on the head. If not for the COVID year, it's a 7-year playoff drought when half the league makes it. They also haven't been even close to making it sans-COVID. Hilarious people think this team didn't deserve Bedard or they don't deserve Celebrini. Could be the worst team in the league in that stretch.
Connor gonna have to toughen up maybe learn how to fight and check build some builk something because I noticed a lot of highlights on my feed of him getting lit up.
Nah, San José is getting it this year. My NHL conspiracy theory is that the NHL offered to guarantee the first round pick to the sharks if they did that awful Hurtl trade to the Golden Knights with a year left on his contract and salary retention. Only way that trade makes any sense.
I think Blackhawks fans are going to have to be patient. Next year should be better if Davidson could (and should) sign a couple of top six forwards. 2026 is optimistic for a Playoff spot, it all depends on how guys like Nazar,Moore, Lardis,etc develop. And Seth Jones is here for a while. He's not worth his contract, but the second half of the Season he was pretty good on this terrible team. Johnson (both), Tinordi, Megna, Zaitsev, and Blackwell are all likely gone.
You skipped some of the more interesting prospects in the pipeline like Nick Lardis, Roman Kantserov, Martin Misiak, Gavin Hayes, and Ethan Del Mastro. Overall great job though and keep up the good work.
Chicago stripped this team down the studs, so it's going to be that much harder to back in the playoffs anytime soon, unless multiple teams in their division decide to implode. I can see them doing the same free agency short term signings they did last time, to be able to offer veterans a big short term contract and the chance to get moved at the deadline to a contender. Having some players of unusual size in the lineup is a good idea to ride shotgun with all the kids on the ice.
It COULD be a star studded draft.. if the media chooses to market some guys that way. lol. I noticed in the League UFC for MMA, their "stars" are heavily a "marketing" gimmick. Why Can't the NHL do it too? cough. zegras.
@@TheHockeyGuy ah that makes sense then. for some reason i thought this video was uploaded today cuz i thought i was in my sub feed, but i must've been on the home feed
Luke Richardson is here for rhe long term he's not on the hot seat. Söderblom should be gone career record is 7-34-4 with a gaa 3.84 and sv% .883. Raddysh show to not shoot at all. Tinordi needs to go hes horrible
Just not enough nhl caliber players for ajll these teams.rebuilding with what talent pools.the league has great athlete's not equating to entertaining nhl games.
It would be nice if Kaner came back to mentor Bedard. That line would be fun to watch! But Kaner said he wants to play another 5+ years. So I’m sure he’s still looking or wants to stay with the Wings
jarred tinordi was atrocious this year. they are not re-signing him in any universe, including this one. there's a reason he was universally given an F this year
